DIY Holidays Abroad

[Golactico]

Last year, we bypassed the tour operators and booked 2 weeks at the all-inclusive San Antonio hotel in Malta directly through their website https://www.dbhotelsresorts.com/dbsanantonio/. We then booked Ryan air flights from Bournemouth to get us there and back. I must admit that I was a bit nervous about booking a holiday abroad without the security of a tour operator – especially with 2 young kids, but It all worked perfectly. The hotel even provided free transfers to and from the airport. I put the exact same hotel and flights through Expedia and booking through them would’ve cost us about £900 more for the identical holiday . The hotel was great and I would recommend anyone looking for an all-inclusive family holiday in the sun to consider doing similar to the above.

 

We are looking to go the DIY route again for a holiday abroad next summer and I wondered if anyone had any similar good experiences to share? The only real criteria we have is a family friendly hotel somewhere sunny with a good pool. If you could name the actual hotel and airports used, that would really help as copying a successfully tried and tested itinerary gives a little more reassurance. We’d also consider a privately rented villa (with pool) if anyone has any recommendations with easy airport transfers that don’t require a hire car.

[the saint in winchester]

I don't think I have ever, in 25 years, booked through a tour operator. Always booked flights and accommodation separately. Tend to use a flight booker site (eg skyscanner) and then use booking.com or hotels.com or homeandaway.co.uk etc for accommodation. Always have travel insurance (annual policy) and arrange my own transfers, booked coach or unbooked taxi if nearby to the airport. Often hire a car, but try not to, then don't have the stress of unknown roads and can enjoy a few glasses of wine in an evening.

I know you're asking us to suggest places to go, so ....

We like Golf del Sur at Tenerife, plenty of accommodation, 15 mins in the taxi from the airport (€12), plenty of bars and restaurants, sports bars for the footie, and a bus ride into Playa de las Americas for the shopping.

[Lastman73]

If your feeling a bit flush then Sardinia is lovely.

Arbatax park resort was our last trip.

Real good for kids and has its own little petting zoo etc. Stunning scenery and lots of pools and activities !!

We always book through booking.com and sort our own flights etc.

 

 

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[Lord Duckhunter]

I go onto TUI & Thomas cook etc websites, find a hotel then set about arranging it myself. Jan we went to Gran Caneria & I booked a Rui hotel through their app, went onto sky scanner and it gave me an Easy jet outbound flight and a Norwegian inbound. I then went on their websites, booked direct with both carriers, saving a further £36.

 

Atlantica are another hotel chain, mainly in Greece & Cyprus that you can book directly with and save money. Another tip is to book B&B then upgrade when you get there, that’s cheaper as well. We don’t do AI anymore as the kids don’t come with us anymore. Sometimes operators are cheaper or just as cheap. Easy jet holidays are cheap with kids, and if you book early enough BA have some cracking holiday deals, we went to Crete B & B for £700 end of June this year. The bonus with BA is 20kg of hold luggage each is included, saving loads as opposed to Ryan air.

 

I’ve always used a mixture of myself & a holiday company, based on price. You can pretty much arrange the exact same holiday, work out the difference,and is that amount worth piece of mind. Oct we’re going back to Gran Can, and TUI was £80 more, we went with them as I felt that was worth paying.

 

Great hotel we’ve been with our kids were Atlantica Porto Bello beach Kos, although there’s not much for adults in evening. If you’re doing it yourself, Malaga gives you great options, use resort hoopa for transfer and some hotels do transfers. We’ve only done B&B there, but it’s great area for kids.

 

 

 

 

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